Letitia Lofland and Caleb Ross

"Immigrants: we get the job done" -- Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton

Letitia Lofland and her husband Caleb Ross are both buried in the Laurel Hill Cemetery in Laurel, Sussex County, Delaware. The inscription on Letitia's tombstone reads: "Letitia, wife of Caleb Ross died 28 May 1832 aged 45y 2m 23d." Caleb's tombstone is a little harder to make out: "Caleb Ross, Esq. (1?) Mar 1784-1 (Nov?) 1841." A third tombstone belongs to "Mary M. Ross, daughter of Caleb & Letitia died 7 Oct 1817 aged 1y 7m 19d."

Based on the evidence of her tombstone, Letitia was born 05 Mar 1787. Her son-in-law William Lowder Hearn referred to her as "a half sister of Dr. John Loffland, 'The Milford Bard'" (Brief History and Genealogy of the Hearne Family, pp. 225 and 228).

[John's] father, Isaac Lofland, was born on a farm near Frederica, and, while yet a young man, removed to Milford and established a general merchandise business. Soon afterward he married Betsy Molleston, of near Camden, in Kent county, but she died in a short time without issue. At the end of a very limited period he married Ruth Campbell, of Milford. To them two children were born, one named Purnell, who moved to Philadelphia, died and left a child, James Lofland, who is still living in that city; and another called Letitia, who married John [sic] Ross of Laurel, in Sussex county, and became the mother of William H. Ross, who was elected Governor of the State in eighteen hundred and fifty-one. This second wife also soon died.

It was not long after the death of Ruth Campbell Lofland, Letitia's mother, that Isaac married John's mother, Cynthia Virden. This took place in 1796 (p. 10). Cynthia and Isaac had three children, John, William and Sarah Virden. Isaac Lofland died in December 1803. In the settlement of his estate, the goods in his store "were sold to James [sic] Ross, of Seaford, the husband of Letitia, daughter by the second wife; and the store-building was closed" (p. 11). (When considering the accuracy of Smithers' information re: Letitia's mother's name, it's necessary to consider the inaccuracy and inconsistency with which he reports her husband's name. Smithers was interested in Letitia's half-brother, not in Letitia herself.)

It would appear that Letitia married Caleb Ross when she was fairly young - 17 or younger - as the closing of the her father's store took place within ten months after her father's death, when her stepmother married John Wallace:

In October, eighteen hundred and four, [John's] mother remarried. It seems that soon after the death of Isaac Lofland, several store properties were vacant in Milford, and John Wallace, a young druggist of Smyrna, decided to remove his business there. Upon arriving he was displeased with the property he had contemplated taking, and finally rented the old store of Mrs. Lofland...

My first wife's father, Caleb Ross, was the youngest of his family, and quite small at the time of his father's death; he also was a self-made man, beginning with nothing, and at the age of fifty-seven died worth $130,000.

Thus wrote William Lowder Hearn in 1888. He may have been embroidering just a bit.

In History of Delaware, 1609-1888, author J Thomas Scharf mentions a James Ross who "was the first of that family in this part of Delaware" (Vol. II, p. 1278) i.e., the Northwest Fork Hundred in Sussex County, the part of Sussex County west of the Nanticoke River. James' brother William Ross "on March 24, 1730, was granted a warrant for 'Ross’s Fancy,' which was located between Iron Mine and Muddy Branches." James himself was granted 50 acres called "Ross's Hazzard" on October 21, 1730. Then in 1743 James "was granted a warrant for two hundred acres called 'Ross’s Venture,' which is described as being at the mouth of the first arm that makes out of Bridge Branch. This James Ross was the ancestor of Governor William Ross, of Delaware."

James Ross would therefore also be the ancestor of the governor's father, Caleb Ross.

"...the Penns exercised no control over [Northwest Fork Hundred], nor did they make any grants of land therein. All the land patented down to 1776 was upon Maryland patents" (Vol II, p. 1276). When the Delaware-Maryland line was settled in about 1776, the land was re-surveyed. "Daniel Polk, a son of Robert Polk, had resurveyed to him seven hundred and fifty acres of land he had come into possession of from time to time, and eight hundred and ninety-four acres of vacant land. This embraced... 'Ross’s Hazzard,' granted October 21, 1730, to James Ross for fifty acres;" (Vol. II, pp. 1277-1278).

The 1785 assessment roll of Northwest Fork Hundred includes Anthony Ross, William Ross, Matthew Ross, Robert Ross, Levin Ross and Reuben Ross (Vol. II, p. 1279). William Ross died intestate in 1796. A record from Orphan's Court held at Georgetown in Sussex Co. 28 Apr 1797 states that Gibson Ross had five "freeholders" view the land "to see if it would admit of division among the heirs and legal representatives of said deceased, which said freeholders after viewing and maturely considering the same did report and say the lands and premises wouldn not admit of the division required without marring and spoiling the whole." Gibson then "prayed the court to appoint three freeholders of said county to enter on and view said lands and premises and make a just extimate of the intrinsic value thereof persuant to the law." On 23 Nov 1798 it was recorded that the freeholders had certified the value of the land.

A ruling from Orphan's Court in Sussex Co. on 09 Mar 1814 states that William Ross died in 1796 leaving a widow, since deceased, and eight children:

William died intestate, and Charles, his oldest son, appointed his younger brother Gibson as his assignee, which is why Gibson had the land valuated in 1797-1798. The language of the court's ruling is rather confusing, but the gist seems to be that Gibson can have the land if he pays the other heirs the dollar value of their shares.

Thus, the "self-made man," "the youngest of his family, and quite small at the time of his father's death," has turned into a descendant of a family that had owned land in Delaware for at least two generations. Caleb apparently had two younger brothers and, judging by the inscription on his tombstone, was 12 years old when his father William died. William seems to have been a son or possibly grandson of James Ross.

As mentioned above, Letitia Lofland and Caleb Ross seem to have married by the end of 1804. I know of six children, one of whom died as an infant:

The list of people in Northwest Fork Hundred in 1816 who had over two hundred acres of land assessed to them includes Edward Ross (310 acres), Nathaniel Ross (1,000 acres), Gibson Ross (800 acres), Huett Ross (1,000 acres) and Caleb Ross (500 acres) (History of Delaware, Vol. II, p. 1280). Caleb seems to have been fairly active in investing in properties and businesses in other locations as well. Warren's or Hitch's Mill, situated on Broad Creek in the Broad Creek Hundred, "came into the possesion of Caleb Ross, father of Governor Ross, who purchased of Nelly Warren, and in 1804 it was sold to William Hitch" (p. 1292). In the Little Creek Hundred, he purchased a grist-mill with John Phillips from Thomas Rider and a grist and saw-mill from Thomas Townsend (p. 1320). Besides the mills, Caleb purchased a hotel in the town of Laurel at a sheriff's sale. He leased it out to George Hobbs and then sold it to James Lynch (p. 1334). William Lowder Hearn's assessment of Caleb as a "self-made man" was exaggerated but not entirely inaccurate.

Caleb - described as "Caleb Ross, Esq., the father of Governor William Ross" - also built a house on the farm owned by Henry Clay Lewis in the Broad Creek Hundred (pp. 1285-1286). I'm not sure if this was to live in or for investment purposes.

As mentioned above, Letitia Lofland Ross died 28 May 1832. Caleb followed her in November 1841. Both are buried in the Laurel Hill Cemetery in Laurel.

Mary, the oldest daughter, seems to have been Mary T Rider, the first wife of William Hearn Rider. (I have no information on William's ancestry, but his name is certainly suggestive!) They had six children, including Granville Ross Rider (1830-1913) and Letitia Lofland Rider (1832-1894). Mary T Rider died 19 Mar 1843. She's buried in the Parsons Cemetery in Salisbury, Wicomico County, Maryland.

James Jefferson moved to Monticello, Georgia, and had been living there for three years when he was murdered in a theatre the night of 08 Oct 1833. The inscription on his tombstone in the Ross Cemetery in Jasper County, Georgia, reads, "Beloved by all who knew him (his murderer excepted)/ His memory will be cherished, his fame can never die." William Lowder Hearn gives the name of his killer as Augustus Glover but I haven't been able to find any information as to why the murder occurred.

Sally Ann married Samuel Rowland Paynter, whom William Lowder Hearn describes as being "of Draw Bridge, Del." It was apparently after her that William Lowder named one of his daughters Annie Paynter. Sally Ann and Samuel had five children that I know of. She died 05 Jan 1866 and is buried in St. Peter's Episcopal Churchyard in Lewes, Sussex County, Delaware.

William Henry Harrison was the 37th Governor of Delaware, holding the office from 21 Jan 1851 to 16 Jan 1855. He married Elizabeth Emeline Hall and they had ten children. William Henry Harrison died in Philadelphia 30 Jun 1887. He's buried in Saint Luke's Cemetery in Seaford, Sussex County, Delaware.

Maria Elizabeth married William Lowder Hearn in Delaware 13 Jul 1837. They had eleven children. The family moved from Maryland to Missouri to, after the outbreak of the US Civil War, Brooklyn, New York. Maria Elizabeth died in Brooklyn 17 Sep 1864. She's buried with William and his second wife in the Hearn family plot at the Greenwood Cemetery in Wheeling, West Virginia.

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In memory of Janet A Werner, 1931-2015